Category Archives: CPD

Of course it is hard to give an absolute answer to such a question, but if one were to search for the key attribute that every citizen of the 21st century needs, I think there would be a strong case for “imagination” to be nominated for the “most important attribute” award.

For, without imagination, how could our society survive? Change happens ever more quickly bringing with it both opportunities and problems, and only those with a really strong ability to imagine possible solutions will be able to adapt and make the most of their lives.

Therefore the use of the imagination is at the heart of almost everything we teach at primary level. A love of reading, for example, both fosters and is fostered by the imagination.

History relies on imagining the narratives of the past. Science requires imagining outcomes, and how to test for them. PSE is related to empathy, which is imagining yourself in another’s shoes – and so on. Imagination is within everything.

The development of the imagination is closely tied to humanity’s development of storytelling. It was by sharing tales of their experiences that early human beings grew the abilities to plan and adapt – abilities which helped them survive changing climates.

But how can one enhance the imagination of young people?

A clue comes from a study by UCL’s Institute of Education, which found that children with a love of reading outperformed their peers in all subjects.

And this is why Snail Tales exists: to help schools like yours nurture a love of storytelling among the children you teach, developing their imaginations and thus making them more rounded human beings, which increases attainment in literacy, numeracy, and enhances a huge range of key skills.

To this end we run a series of training courses in schools, ranging from after school sessions to INSET days on storytelling in the classroom and work with individual year groups. For more details please see our website, call 0203 287 6245 or visit our Contact Us page

If you are thinking about CPD to boost your SpLD support this term, do give SpLD Central on June 29th some consideration. Hosted by Crossbow Education at Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire, this CPD accredited conference lines up some of the best speakers in three major areas of SpLD.

The focus in the morning will be on Dyscalculia, with two keynotes from Prof Steve Chinn, recognised by many as the leading expert on dyscalculia in schools. After lunch Fintan O’Regan will consider a range of systems and strategies to address successful learning, behaviour and socialisation outcomes for children on the ADHD spectrum; Rachel Ingham, Judy Capener, and Sue Francis will give you some insights into different aspects of literacy that are particularly relevant for dyslexic learners; Dominic Griffiths, senior lecturer at MMU, will talk about embedding reasonable adjustments at post-16, and SEN advisory team leader Beccie Hawes (Author of “Getting it Right for Dyslexic Learners”) will give you a roadmap for helping SpLD students navigate that difficult journey from Y6 to Y7. For an overview of the conference programme, click the following link or paste it into your browser: http://www.spldcentral.com/workshop-details.aspx

We have a reputation for Excellence at Crossbow (4 prestigious awards in the last five years – 3 national and one international), and our conference is no exception. We also have a reputation for providing good value, and at £139.95 + VAT for a day with speakers of this calibre it’s a lot less than you would pay Forum, or Capita, or other providers. And here’s the best bit: if you and your partner schools can put together a group booking, you get one free place for every three you book. The conference website is www.spldcentral.com – have a look now and make up your own mind. You can book online, and you can pay by card or we can invoice your school.

What do you get on the day?

Two keynotes in the morning (1 hr 10 mins each)

Two afternoon presentations (1 hr each) from a choice of six – each session is repeated after the break

An excellent 3-course sit-down lunch, coffee at registration, two refreshment breaks, and pastries

A marketplace of top specialist SpLD suppliers (not just Crossbow!) and plenty of time to spend looking at their resources: 1hr 20 mins at lunch, two 30 min refreshment breaks, plus time at registration.

A bound conference book to keep with all the handouts and room for your notes

Your CPD certificate.

Free transport to and from Stafford station, and plenty of parking if you come by car.

Or if you want to speak to speak to someone ring 0845 269 7272 and ask for Bob or Ionë

The mission of SpLD Central is to give school leaders, SENCOs, SEND advisory teams and SpLD professionals a memorable day of CPD that will really change lives. “It was the best CPD event I have ever been to and one of the highlights of my professional career” (2016 delegate).

What is the most effective way of making Evidence-Based Teaching easy to access and quick to learn?

One solution is to offer your colleagues anytime access to an Evidence-Based Teaching resource that can be personalised to their teaching needs. A resource they can tap into as and when they need it.

Of course, you will want the resource to be broken down into quick-to-learn sequences that your colleagues will find immediately relevant and easy to apply to their classroom practices.

Value for money will be an important consideration and, since student success is the only real measure of value, the Evidence-Based Teaching resource will need to support your current in-house professional learning strategies. Strategies such as coaching, teaching and learning groups, and whole school literacy.

Covering a variety of topics such as Behaviour, Independent Learning, Whole Class Teaching and Assessment for Learning, the HOW2s will save you both time and money when compared to buying in traditional CPD or sending teachers out on training courses. And the good news is the HOW2s pass the Education Development Trust’s CPD test

Take a look at our pricing here. Use offer code SCHOOLS17 to get 20% off standard school subscriptions until the end of March 2017.

Call 01277 202812 or email me at info@teachinghow2s.com to arrange a time for us discuss HOW2s – as an ex-SENCO and deputy head i/c CPD, I promise no hard-sell.

Want to find out more? Watch Nico’s video. Nico is a Maths teacher and uses the HOW2s extensively in his classroom.

What is the single most effective way to engage boys in education and maintain their interest?

According to the DfE, “Girls are outperforming boys in all the main attainment indicators at ks4” which is what makes it so important to implement a whole-school strategy that will not only engage boys in education but that will also maintain their interest.

This workshop offers practical solutions and covers five main areas of concern, including: male learning styles, boys’ participation in education, addressing literacy concerns, a male-inclusive classroom, and the importance of creating a whole-school strategy.

Are you concerned about the gap widening between girls’ and boys’ performance? This workshop might be what you are looking for – an experiential, hands-on approach to providing practical solutions for raising boys’ achievement. Mengage have run this course countrywide and keep building on the practical solutions after each session. Why not have them come share their experience with your school.

This is an evidence-based, experiential workshop; participants will be informed of useful methods to engage and maintain boys interest in education and will be encouraged to consider a whole-school strategy to improve boy’s achievement.

This workshop is delivered in three hours and costs £895. Whole staff can be accommodated, right down to 10 or 15 committed staff.

Contact liam@mengage.co.uk or 07788725318 to discuss a booking. Alternatively, go to our website www.mengage.co.uk to see what else we offer around mental health and accredited mentoring.

This is an evidence-based, experiential workshop; participants will be informed of useful methods to engage and maintain boys’ interest in education and will be encouraged to consider a whole-school strategy to improve boys’ achievement.

SSS Learning’s CPD accredited secure online safeguarding training is created specifically for school and academy settings to meet the OFSTED Common Inspection Framework, offering a perfect solution to promote best practice and evidence training to OFSTED.

Accessible anytime/anywhere on PC, MAC, Tablet or Smart Phone, our online training takes approximately one hour per course to complete and is by far the most cost-effective way to train your staff both quickly and easily.

To find out about our current online safeguarding courses for staff in schools and academies, please click on a course title below:

If you have ever had the privilege of witnessing a great teacher at work in the classroom, you will know that it is never about what they do, but rather it is always about how they do it.

The answer never lies (for example) in the type of work that they set, nor does it lie in the type of reward system that they use, but rather the answer lies in how they set the work and how they reward their pupils.

It is this philosophy that prompted us to develop Lessonbox – to support you in offering excellent CPD to your teaching staff that will ensure you are responsible for the making of a great teacher. And Lessonbox doesn’t just tell you what to do, but rather how to achieve it.

First of all, when it comes to recording a lesson for CPD purposes, it’s important that the lesson is real – not one that looks as if it has been staged for the camera.

Both pupils and teachers need to be relaxed, and that means that there should be nothing in the classroom (such as a large camera, a tripod or a technician) that reminds everyone that, “This lesson is being recorded”.

When such a lesson takes place, the reactions (both from teachers and pupils) are remarkable, and you can clearly identify on the recording the difference between “what is happening” in the classroom and “how it is happening” in the classroom.

From here on out it is a simple case of having teachers observe their own lessons and other teachers’ lessons in order to improve their teaching strategy.

Lessonbox makes carrying out classroom recordings very easy to do, with no complex set up and no stranger in the room. And the recording of lessons quickly becomes the norm.

What’s more, the Lessonbox Mobile recording equipment is portable and can be used by any teacher in any room or building. There’s nothing to stop it being used to record a number of lessons by different teachers each day.

Once recording is complete schools can use the Lessonbox Cloud platform to save the video securely, share, add comments, and attach related documents. You can even use the Cloud’s desktop recorder to record your own screen and add video and commentary to PowerPoint presentations.

In addition, the Cloud can be used to deliver lessons to students away from the classroom, if required, using the flipped classroom model. And if you have any concerns about having enough space to store all the resultant content, we can solve that too.

Using our CPD accredited online training module for Prevent Duty, in just an hour you can ensure you and all your staff comply with Prevent Duty responsibilities.

As a secure online service accessible from PC, MAC or any mobile device, there is no more cost-effective way to comply with Prevent Duty.

Takes just seconds to access and distribute to your staff.

Prevent Duty falls within Safeguarding, which remains at the heart of the new OFSTED Common Inspection Framework. Our module provides certificated CPD approved evidence of successful completion of the course.

Using our CPD accredited online training module for Prevent Duty, in just an hour you can ensure you and all your staff comply with Prevent Duty responsibilities.

As a secure online service accessible from PC, MAC or any mobile device, there is no more cost-effective way to comply with Prevent Duty.

Takes just seconds to access and distribute to your staff.

Prevent Duty falls within Safeguarding, which remains at the heart of the new OFSTED Common Inspection Framework. Our module provides certificated CPD approved evidence of successful completion of the course.